“It’s not that hard once you get the hang of it,” Brogan said, making her look at him in surprise. “What? Do I not seem like the pizza-making type?”
She chuckled. “Not really, no.”
“It was a job I had when I was a teenager. Back before I got involved in the organization.”
A man in an apron appeared to take their order, and Brogan insisted that she get whatever she wanted on the pizza and they would split it. She went with pepperoni, and they both got sodas.
This felt almost like a date, but she tried not to think about that as they sat down at a table against the wall. She noticed that Brogan positioned his chair so that his back was facing the wall and he could see the entrance. She wondered if he always carried around as many weapons as he had on him last night.
“Do you know that man?” he asked, nodding his head toward a booth where three men were sitting. She hadn’t paid much attention to them when they walked in, but now that she looked, she saw a familiar face was glaring at her.
Amy scowled as she turned away. “That’s my ex, Jeremy. Just ignore him.”
“What’s his problem?”
“He’s nuts. I wasn’t looking for anything serious when we dated a couple of months ago. I broke things off when he started to get too clingy.”
“And that’s why he’s staring at you like that?” Brogan asked, his voice an angry growl.
“I guess. He was pretty upset and even followed me around for a while.”
“He did what?” Brogan’s jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. He was seriously pissed and it would have been scary if it was directed at her. Instead, his eyes shifted to Jeremy.
Amy looked over at her ex again and wanted to laugh when fear flickered across his face and he looked away quickly. She turned attention back to Brogan and almost reached out for his hand that was on the table, but she stopped herself at the last second.
“You know, if you keep doing this good of a job protecting me, I might never let you go.”
Brogan’s eyes met hers, and he gave her a real smile for the first time since they met. He was handsome already, but that made her heart skip a beat.
The food arrived and she quickly claimed a piece and started eating, needing a distraction from her temporary bodyguard before she did something truly reckless. Like falling for the guy.
* * *
Brogan’s guest room had a king size bed with a memory foam mattress. Amy woke up at five in the morning, like usual on workdays, but it took all of her willpower to drag herself out of bed. She didn’t have to worry too much about being quiet as she got ready for work, like she did when she was at her own apartment. Brogan would be coming with her today.
He was already waiting for her in the living room when walked out of the bedroom, looking tired but ready to go. Once again, she felt bad about dragging him around while she continued with her life.
“Does this bother you?” she asked as he drove them to the coffee shop. They’d decided that it made sense to take one car while he was guarding her. “I mean, do you resent that you’re stuck following me around?”
“No.”
“Are you sure? I mean, isn’t there something else you’d rather be doing?”
“I haven’t always held my current position within the organization. I used to work for Owen’s dad doing…things that required devoting a lot of my time and attention. Work that was dark and violent. This is far preferable to that.”
Amy thought about what he said the rest of the way to the coffee shop. Was he talking about killing people?
I chill ran down her spine, and she tried not to think about it. She knew that Brogan was a part of the mafia, and that meant that he did illegal things, but she wasn’t sure what exactly that entailed. If she let herself worry about it, she knew that she might lose the feeling of safety she had with him.
She didn’t want that. Besides, she was starting to care about him. It was better not to think about his darker side. He’d been kind to her since they met, and that was what really mattered.
When they reached the coffee shop, Brogan came inside with her as she opened things up. Going behind the counter, she started the coffee brewing, knowing that the earliest customers would arrive right as the shop opened, and she needed to have it ready. When she turned around, Brogan had started to take the chairs off the tables, where they were left after the closing shift mopped last night.
A warm affection bloomed inside of her, and she couldn’t keep herself from smiling as she joined him.
Brogan sat at the counter for her entire shift, and she made sure that he had complimentary drinks and a muffin. He was here to look out for her, so she figured it was the least she could do. The shift was uneventful, except for when her co-worker showed up just as the coffee shop opened. She knew that Wendy was on the schedule, but the woman that walked through the door was Bonnie, a woman in her thirties that was great with the customers and usually worked afternoons.
“Is something wrong?” Brogan asked as Amy watched Bonnie go into the back to clock in.
